OSCE provides further support to improve housing for vulnerable groups
The OSCE Mission to Montenegro participated in a ceremony to hand over keys of 94 newly built housing units to families in the Municipality of Berane on 26 March 2019. The construction, worth 3.9 million euro, is part of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP).
Speakers at the event included Kemal Purišić, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare; Aivo Orav, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro; Judy Rising Reinke, United States Ambassador to Montenegro; Robert Weber, Ambassador of Germany to Montenegro; Stephan Sellen, Deputy Director of the Council of Europe Development Bank; Dragoslav Šćekić, President of the Municipality of Berane.
On behalf of the OSCE and UNHCR, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Maryse Daviet commended the good work and commitment of the Government of Montenegro and said that the Regional Housing Programme is not only about the provision of housing, but also about giving a new opportunity to live in dignity.
“This is indeed a tangible result of an ambitious regional programme that, despite its challenges, is a successful example of joint efforts to assist the most vulnerable people with decent and durable accommodations,” said Daviet. She added that “housing is only one part of the equation; more needs to be done to secure access to other rights”.
The main donor was the European Union and significant financial contributions were made by the governments of the United States, Italy, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, and Turkey. The regional housing programme has been strongly supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, which supported national authorities in selecting beneficiaries for this project under the Regional Housing Programme.
With the completion of this phase of the project, 395 housing solutions to 1,504 most vulnerable persons have been provided in Montenegro so far.
Through the Regional Housing Programme for Montenegro, funds have been provided to build more housing units in the coming years, which will bring the total number of most vulnerable people provided with housing to more than 6,000.
In attendance of today’s ceremony was also representatives of embassies in Montenegro: ambassadors of Great Britain, Austria, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Croatia, as well as deputy ambassadors of Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Greece.